04 [written/action]

[wipesfaith]

[Classic incognito message, with the picture blocked out and everything; he even makes an attempt to disguise his handwriting, which he forgets after the first three words.]

Say you want to ask a girl out. How do you go about doing that?

Girls like flowers, right?

[See, there's actually a lot of consideration that goes into this. For a guy with a faulty brain-to-mouth filter and a do-or-die attitude, the amount of waffling here is...strange, maybe. But everyone's a walking contradiction. He has some ideas, along with maybe ten different speeches that he's mentally mapped out over the past three years and never planned on actually using, but second- and third-guessing himself leads to this pandering for advice...thing. He's pretty sure it's lame, but... It couldn't hurt, right?

Okay, so maybe he's just procrastinating.]

[Action]

[Anonymous dweebiness aside, Jean goes about his day as usual. Training at the Battle Dome; going to school; taking care of his horse at the stables, and taking him out for a ride into the woods; and checking the General Store for some...supplies, art supplies. Don't ask, don't tell.]

Comments

[petreefied]

[as opposed to the loser who joined the survey corps instead of the military police?]

They are? What do you mean?

[Art is never something Petra's tried to do much herself, never having considered herself a creative person.]

[wipesfaith]

[Why are they still talking about this... (Jean, shut up, it's been like 30 seconds.)]

They just are. Faces have a lot of details, so that's easy to mess up...and if you don't get the body's proportions right it just looks weird.

[petreefied]

[Nope, you're going to be talking for a while now!]

That makes sense. Hands must be difficult, then.

[All the little fiddly bits and all.]

[wipesfaith]

[Dammit.]

Hands are the freakin' worst.

[He kinda...gives up on them half the time. The struggle is real.]

[petreefied]

If you practice a lot, then I'm sure you'll be good at it. Say, are you drawing someone in particular? Commander Erwin's probably sat for a few portraits before, and he needs to sit and relax more often...

[no Petra, don't go around volunteering your superior officers for this kind of thing]

[wipesfaith]

Are you seriously suggesting that I draw a portrait of the Commander? No way.

[Do you know how awkward it would be to stare him down for that long. Do you.]

[petreefied]

I think he'd be flattered. It doesn't have to be a full on painting. Commander probably needs a break, anyway.

[Petra sees no wrong in this idea.]

Or you could ask Captain, but I don't know how patient he would be for that kind of thing.

[wipesfaith]

What a shame. [Oh well, looks like he won't be drawing the captain any time soon, too bad, so sad...]

Look, I usually just draw stuff from memory. [Because it, you know, doesn't involve other people being anywhere near him while he's doing it.]

[petreefied]

I guess that's one way to go about it. But if you ever change your mind, I can talk to Commander for you.

[This would be called networking in another situation]

[wipesfaith]

Thanks and all, but that really won't be necessary.

[...And as he says this, the bright white light of the electric bulbs overhead fizzles, instantly replaced by the dull glow of old-fashioned lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Jean's gaze jumps up there.]

...The hell?

[petreefied]

[The sudden change in lighting also catches Petra off guard, and her hand flies to her hip on instinct. Titans may not be around, but that didn't mean there was nothing to be wary of.

It takes her a moment to calm down, but she's not entirely surprised to see the change. It isn't exactly the first time she's seen something weird in the last few days.]

Honestly... that can't be a good sign.

[Though she really prefers the soft glow of the lanterns to the electric lighting...]

[wipesfaith]

[All the comforts of home, huh? What's jarring is realizing how used to the convenience of electricity he's gotten.]

Not this again... [A light sigh.] Not that it's much of an inconvenience, but something must be up. Either they're doing it on purpose, or...

[Something tells him that isn't the case.]